Another tourist paradise
AMULTI-BILLION-rand plan to revamp the former Victoria Embankment as a tourist playground in time for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was revealed in Durban yesterday.
Dubbed the Bayside Precinct Plan, the project aims to link the existing beachfront promenade from uShaka Marine World, down to the harbour mouth, past the refurbished cruise terminal, along the embankment, ending at Wilson’s Wharf.
The plan, revealed by the province at The Mercury Business Breakfast event yesterday, includes houses and a recreational park built on the water, similar to examples in Florida in the US; studio flats; a commercial and retail marina; expanding the Royal Natal Yacht Club to meet international standards; a water-sport centre; a maritime college and research base; water taxi node; and a more attractive entry to the yacht basin.
Further upgrades to some of the buildings between the new waterfront and the city centre are also part of the plans.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu said yesterday that the 10-year project was in sync with a further R25 billion earmarked for the Point development, including a makeover of the ageing passenger terminal.
Frikkie Brooks, the acting director-general in the province, said the promenade should be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games. “I don’t think it’s possible to complete the whole plan by 2022, but ideally we want to get the promenade sorted out before then,” he said.
Graham Rose, the commodore at the yacht club, said the project would increase the economic potential of the yachting industry.
“We will attract more visitors and host international yachting events,” he said.
But heavy trucks and the railway line, which prevent easy access by the public to the proposed waterfront, were a challenge to the success of the plan. While Transnet failed to respond to e-mailed questions from The Mercury yesterday, Mchunu said he would have to “sit under a tree and drink some Zulu beer” with the port authority head, Siyabonga Gama, to iron out their “strategic” differences on the issue.
With the commercial floors of the embankment’s John Ross House coming under the hammer in Gauteng tomorrow, Frank Reardon, from the Broll Property Group, said the connection and re-linking of the Point and passenger terminal precincts, Durban’s waterfront and city centre was a “logical and positive” step to accelerate urban renewal and attract investment.
Muhammed Seedat, who has invested in the regeneration of the city centre, said in any other city in the world, the embankment would be prime real estate with the stunning harbour views, both for residential and commercial purposes.
“I see a mixed-use development on the waterfront that would compare with, if not surpass, other major city attractions in the world,” he said.